


Wake and Worry

by EmJ93



Series: The Companion!Ariela Universe [2]
Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-03
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-11-08 08:29:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17977859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmJ93/pseuds/EmJ93
Summary: Uncharacteristically waking in the night, a concerned Ariela realises that her friend is having a nightmare.Just a short little one-shot set in the same universe as my multi-chapter fic Key to the Heart.





	Wake and Worry

Ariela had always been a heavy sleeper. In her youth, it was a trait that she had enjoyed, having been able to sleep in as late as her body desired, regardless of how the sun- or an exasperated nanny- might try to wake her. As an adult, however, it was a habit that she had tried to train herself out of. Life on the road was far often too dangerous to afford a late sleep, and she had learned the hard way the dangers that came from sleeping as a threat loomed ever closer.

And so it was with a start, and expecting immediate danger, that she awoke one night, knowing only that something had disturbed her usually sound sleep.

She quickly cast her gaze over the small rented room, searching for the source of the disturbance. A cloaked figure, perhaps, lurking in the corner of the room; a Leaden Key spy who had been good enough to evade their detection? Or some bounty hunter sent by her family, there to retrieve her head, who had tracked her across the sea on the orders of greedy and selfish nobles with no sense of when to move on and let things be?

She found neither; greeted only by darkness, and the quiet stillness that settled over the world in the earliest hours of the morning. 

Rubbing her sleepy eyes, Ariela frowned into the room, as if doing so might intimidate the night into giving up its secrets, and grant her the knowledge of what had woken her at such an unreasonable hour. Unsurprisingly, it did not. After a few long moments, she let out a heavy sigh, and began to settle back down, fluffing up her pillow, and flopping back down with a defeated heaviness. 

It was then that she heard it. A small whimper, followed by a muffled sob.

Ariela pulled herself from her bed faster than she remembered doing anything else in her life, crossing the couple of feet to the other bed, and dropping down to her knees beside her sleeping friend.

“Aloth?” Her voice was soft, and she hesitated as she began to reach out towards him. They’d been getting more comfortable around one another over the last few months, but all the same, she didn’t know whether he would be comfortable with her touching him. Particularly when he was sleeping, and vulnerable, and-

He let out another whimper, face distorting in distress, and she pushed through her awkwardness, reaching out towards him. Her fingers brushed across his jaw, some part in the back of her mind marvelling at how incredibly pretty he was, before she reminded herself that  _now is not the time_ , moving her touch down to his shoulder and shaking him gently.

“No… Please…” His voice weak, and her heart hurt to hear him that way. 

“Aloth, you’re just dreaming, Darling.” Ariela sought out his hand, squeezing it tightly, brushing her thumb across his warm skin. “You’re safe. I’m here. Please wake up.”

His grip tightened on her hand to an uncomfortable degree, eyes snapping open with a fierce look that she had long since come to associate with Iselmyr, which crumpled away with a heavy breath once his gaze began to focus on her. 

She reached up with her free hand, brushing back the loose strands of hair that had fallen across his face, and flashing him a gentle smile. “It’s just me. You were having a nightmare.”

“I…” Aloth opened and closed his mouth a few times, before finally settling on: “I apologise if I woke you.”

“I’d much rather we both be awake than you be in distress.”

He smiled; tired, but appreciative. “Thank you, Ari.”

Ariela pretended not to notice the way that he leaned into her touch against his face, or the fact that though he had loosened his grip on her hand, he had not pulled away, and had instead interlinked their fingers more comfortably. 

Those were conversations for another day. Right now, she was just relieved to know that he was alright.


End file.
